Probation department's ‘absurd' stats eyed

State probation department staffers called in sick more than 11,000 days last year - the equivalent of 30 years - in a workplace epidemic, a Boston Herald review finds.

Laura Crimaldi

State probation department staffers banged in sick more than 11,000 days last year - the equivalent of 30 years - in a workplace epidemic that has private sector leaders shaking their heads in disbelief, a Herald review finds.

As lawmakers mull what to do with the troubled department, the review found that taxpayers paid for 11,165 sick days for probation officers last year - an average of nearly 12.5 days each. That's more than twice the amount used by the average American worker and higher than probation departments in other states.

“That's obviously an absurd statistic,” said Robert Ahearn, chief executive of the Plymouth-based IGS Systems, a high-tech firm that was forced to lay off 27 people over the past three years.

“That would be an enormous impact on our business, and we couldn't tolerate it,” he added.

“We would be really hard-pressed to run our business on 12.5 sick days per year. It would be a nightmare,” said Dan Abrams, CEO of Stoughton-based Diesel Direct, whose 150 employees get six paid sick days annually.

“It really annoys me and bothers me,” said Loretta T. DeGrazia, CEO of Stoughton-based East Coast Petroleum, which gives four sick days and three personal days annually. “I don't want my taxpayer money to afford someone laying at the beach and abusing the system's benefits.'

- Read the rest of this story at Boston Herald

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